Papa Pink, as Gaebel is known by the skydiving buddies he has coached and trained, is getting ready for SkyQuest 2012, an event that will bring at least 120 sky divers from 20 countries around the world to DeLand. The competition at the DeLand Municipal Airport Nov. 15-18 will feature large-formation competition, Gaebel said, pausing momentarily from tapping his keyboards.

"It's a 104-people formation and they will be jumping from five planes," Gaebel said.

At a glance Gaebel, 56, in khaki shorts and a faded navy blue polo shirt, appears like a helper disseminating information about the event. But for skydivers who rally to the greeting, "Blue Skies - Go Compete" — a call to go skydiving — Gaebel is the man who has pumped life into their daring sport by creating a league that produces year-round competition.

In 1997, Gaebel formed the DeLand-based National Skydiving League, modeled after the German Football (soccer) Club game format. The season begins with an opening event in March in DeLand and ends in DeLand with the November SkyQuest, a national championship.

"I love the whole idea of an organized skydiving league... something our sport has lacked for many years," said Ed Ganley via email.

Ganley, an Ohio resident who has been jumping out of airplanes for sport since 1977 and has made more than 4,000 dives, said Gaebel's organization has significantly fostered the growth of competitive skydiving. It has created regional leagues and provided a gateway where individuals can network to form teams and work with other competitors in the United States.

"In the 'old' days, skydivers were left to form their own teams and had only one official meet a year," Ganley wrote.

The idea of the skydiving league dates back to Gaebel's soccer days, which started near the Berlin wall in Germany. He saw the Berlin Wall rise from scratch in 1961, separating him and his family from the church and cemetery where his beloved grandfather was buried. The tomb stayed on the communist side of Germany's capital city.

"I couldn't go there anymore but I was lucky to be on the west side," Gaebel said.

What the wall couldn't imprison was a soccer field about 1,000 feet west of it or Gaebel's competitive spirit. He grew up playing there, learning all the competitive skills that made him a rising soccer star as a semi-pro midfielder for the Berlin All Stars Team at age 25. At that time, while browsing a newspaper for real estate, a small ad from the Berlin Parachute Club caught his eye. It renewed Gaebel's desire to fly. He called the club and made his first jump in May 1980.

"I felt at home with it," Gaebel said. Floating in the air at 14,000 feet for one minute without using his parachute, the wish to fly suddenly became real. "It's a feeling you can't describe with words. You have to do it to get it, to be able to understand," Gaebel said over pizza and beer at Tom's Pizza in DeLand.

Juggling soccer, law school and skydiving, the adrenaline rush of falling out of a plane won in the end. He quit preparing for the bar exam, left soccer and started a beginners skydiving team. And while on training trips to Florida he met his wife, Becky, in 1992. Shortly after, he moved all his operations to Florida but soon discovered skydiving lacked one element - competition.

"Competition to me is the salt in the soup," Gaebel said. "If you compete it makes you perform better and delivering better performance is always more fun."

And so Gaebel applied the German soccer club's format to skydiving.

"The soccer format applied to skydiving is extremely unique and creative," said Bob Hallett, owner of Skydive DeLand. "It's a project Kurt has worked on and modified over the years."

The league has attracted skydivers from all over the United States and around the world to DeLand. "We have benefited from the national and international exposure as well as a specific activity level," Hallett said. Gaebel's organization, which has created weekly and monthly competitions, has added thousands of jumps to Hallett's operations. "What Kurt has done is to provide the opportunity for league-type competition," Hallett said.

For Glen Hauenstein, of the Georgia Skydiving League, the move by Gaebel is a great idea. Gaebel coached Hauenstein's team, Mr. Pink, earning him the name Papa Pink. Gaebel is doing what was needed to make the sport more attractive to people with an interest in skydiving, Hauenstein said. "I am a big fan and supporter of the NSL and Kurt's efforts to provide an ongoing outlet and platform for 4-way skydiving competition," Hauenstein said.

For more information on the National Skydiving League visit skyleague.com or call 386-801-0804.